Easter weekend didn’t involve enough chocolate for me (I will catch up now I’m home don’t worry!)

Instead I spent the weekend in South Wales at CrossFit ION on a course to become a qualified CrossFit Gymnastics Coach.

The knowledge bombs were dropping like the Blitz and the gym was full of athletes and coaches who started the weekend feeling strong and competent in their movements and left broken but inspired to take their new skills back to their boxes.

So what did I learn? Well, way too much to fit into one blog post..

So I’ll focus on the two most important.

Firstly –

Doing away with ‘Rx’d’ when it comes to training gymnastics movements. If we focus on hitting the official Rx’d standards in our general workouts we compromise proper movement. Yes we may get our toes to touch the bar for toes to bar, or our chin over the bar for a pull-up, and we may well be able to get through a load in a workout, but will this help us improve in the long run? Hell no! Are we moving efficiently and with the correct movement patterns? Most likely not! As coaches, we need to celebrate our athletes achievements of their first toes-to-bar/pull-up/muscle-up just like we would a back squat PR, but not let that follow by ‘Rx’d’ movements with shitty form. If an athlete hit a back squat PR but only just making depth, we would still encourage deeper squats in training.

A number of cues and movement progressions went into a black box to throw out of our coaches bag of tricks and never spoken of again. These included things taught on the level 1 CrossFit course and on the gymnastics course from a few years ago. Why? Because our knowledge is constantly evolving. Not just the coaches in your local box, but the big dogs too! Jeff Tucker, head of CrossFit Gymnastics, adapts the course to grow with his knowledge. Level 1 courses are great but they only have a short amount of time to teach a lot of movements. The more time we have to drill into movements the more specific we can be with how and what we teach.

Let use toes to bar for example. Everyone knows the end goal is to touch both feet to the bar at the same time. This is easier to achieve by aggressively kipping, pulling back on the bar and driving our legs up to get that contact, followed by an aggressive drive back with the legs to cycle into a big arch for the next rep.

However, this switches a core exercise to a back exercise shifting the focus onto your lats and shoulders. If we lose our ego and are honest with ourselves about our abilities we perform scaled down versions of the same movement. The focus is now on a hollow core, a solid arch and only working to a level where those perfect positions are maintained throughout.

I quickly found I cannot perform ‘Rx’d’ toes to bar. I will no longer be performing official ‘Rx’d’ toes to bar until I can do using the correct movement patterns. This may take a little while, but I have drawn myself up a new core programme, I have all the skills and drills to help me develop and the determination to keep working on these progressions until I can. Virtuosity is key.

Another part of the weekend that blew my mind was the bar muscle ups. A movement I’ve avoided for a long time due to fear of falling forward over the bar. A fear I now know was completely legitimate. If you aggressively pull your hips to the bar, then throw yourself forward over the bar the only way you are going to go is forward. It’s simple physics. The same goes for ring muscle ups. Throwing yourself threw the rings is likely to end in falling forward through the rings. If you remain hollow in your kip, push down on the bar to bring your hips up, a slight pull in once shoulders have passed the hands to then push down on the bar the only way you are going to go is up! Makes sense right?

If you see me cheating on my movements you have full permission to kick me!

Secondly –

The importance of a solid hollow position. A hollow body gives us the ability to transfer the energy required of a movement correctly from core to extremity. If we’re soft through our midline our movements will be soft and lacking.

You may be able to perform handstand push-ups or multiple kipping pull-ups without a solid midline relying on shoulder strength, but how soon will that strength burn out? How long until you’re out of training for 6+ weeks with a torn rotator cuff or shoulder impingement?

If we lose our midline on a heavy squat we will crumble under the bar. Maintain tension through the core keeps the body strong, keeps the bar rising and makes the lift easier. The same goes for gymnastics.

Keep the arc of your kip tight; toes pointed, legs long, feet squeezed together, butt squeezed, tension on the bar. Use that elastic energy to rebound back into the hollow for the next rep.

When the muscles works in unison every movement is more efficient and every rep takes a little less energy.

Don’t be too proud to go back to basics. It will pay dividends in the long run!

Contact me now if you would like to book 1-2-1 sessions with a qualified CrossFit Gymnastics Coach!

 

Could you pass the new military fitness test to join the Armed Forces?

It’s been twenty years since the military fitness test / physical employment standards (PES) to join the Armed Forces have been updated. That doesn’t mean they haven’t been thinking about it for some time. The new standards came into play at the beginning of the month (April 2019)

“These new physical fitness standards are objective, measurable, role-related and gender-free to ensure Army personnel have the physical capability to meet the necessary force preparation and operational requirements.”

The new tests are designed to replicate combat roles and mimic real life tasks carried out by the armed forces.

From the UK Defence Journal, they consist of:

A 4km march carrying 40kg of equipment in less than 40 minutes. Followed by a 2km march carrying 25kg of equipment in under 15 minutes.

Complete a fire and move exercise in less than five minutes. Followed by a 20m drag of a 110kg weight.

Carry two water cans weighing 22kg each over 240m in under four minutes. Followed by lifting a 70kg weight and holding it for three seconds.

Finally soldiers will have to carry bags weighing 20kg 20 times over a distance of 30m and place them on 1.4m platforms.

All if this is performed back to back over a three hour session.

The standards are no longer age or gender related. Everyone is required to be up to the same level when it comes to their physical abilities.

This makes sense to me, the enemy doesn’t care or necessarily know what age or gender you are. This also coincides with women now being able to join any and all roles withing the forces including the marines and the SAS. Applications opened in October with new recruits starting basic training from April 2019.

So what do you need to ensure you meet the required PES?

The weighted 4km march followed by a 2km march requires a decent level of cardiovascular fitness. Walking 1km every 10 minutes will require maintaining a fairly moderate pace. Easy enough without carrying roughly half your body weight on your back. A strong pair of legs and glutes will help with the walking speed and a strong core will keep the load from crippling your back.

The second part of this test requires you to up the pace on fatigued legs. Completing a further 2km at a pace of 7.5 minutes per km but with a 15kg drop in load. This is where you need to be able to find your happy place, dig in and pick up the pace to the finish. Training on the rowing machine will be useful to help to build the legs and core up while working on your cardiovascular endurance.

 

The fire and move exercises is where agility comes in to play. You will need to be able to change direction quickly and get off the ground straight into a 15m sprint. SAQ (Speed, Agility, Quickness) training will come in handy for this phase. This aims to improve your multi-directional movement and reprograms neuromuscular systems which will help to prevent injuries such as twisted ankles and knee injuries during these tasks.

This drill is followed by a 20m drag of 110kg to simulate coming up against enemy fire and removing injured parties from the situation. It doesn’t matter if you weigh 100kg or 50kg, the injured party still needs your assistance! Building strong quads, hamstrings and glutes is beneficial for this. Exercises should include; back squats, front squats, good mornings, weighted glute bridges as well as of course practicing the weighted drag itself.

For the third section, a weighted farmer carry with 22kg in each hand simulates carrying a person on a stretcher. The upper back and shoulders play a big part in the stretcher carry so working on building strength and endurance of those is important. Presses over head, lat-pull downs and pull ups, flies and incline presses should be added to your training program to strengthen these as well as working on your grip strength as 240m in under 4 minutes does limit the amount of times you can put the weight down to readjust your grip.

Working on your deadlifts is obviously imperative for the second phase of this test, although if you have been working towards all of the above the deadlift shouldn’t be too much of a challenge. A bodyweight deadlift should be fairly easily achievable for most with a little bit of training. At 70kg that will be below the majority of participants bodyweight.

 

Finally, repeated weighted carries over a 30m distance. This I assume is designed to really push you at the end of a grueling test of strength and endurance. This comes at the very end of the test. You will be fatigued and the bags will be awkward to carry without handles. This may also test your patience to see who can stay calm when the going gets tough. The trick is to find a stable place to load the bags, most likely over shoulder. Be sure to keep swapping sides each time to stay balanced. Hugging the bag in front will be the most challenging way of carrying these as the weight will pull on your lower back. Learning to clean and jerk odd objects will help with getting the bags on to the 1.4m platform at the other end.

 

This test is a much closer representation of the roles actually carried out by the forces. WO1 Gavin Paton, the Field Army Sergeant Major, is quoted saying: “I’ve got plenty of combat experience. I’ve never done a sit-up on the battlefield, but I have dragged casualties. I’ve never done a push-up on the battlefield, but I have been expected to lift and carry repeatedly.”

If you are thinking of signing up but worried about passing the physical employment standards I can help! Together we can build on the strength and cardiovascular endurance needed to go into the test confident in your abilities and crushing the time caps! Drop me a message now to get started. https://discoverpersonaltraining.co.uk/

 

If you are already in the military you will know about the updates to the Annual Fitness Test. I will cover in another post.